Almost A World Tour!

Well it's true what they say, time certainly does fly when your having fun. It feels like only last week that myself and Mark sat in the Departure Lounge at Heathrow enjoying our last pint of Stella all giddy like two little kids on Christmas morning about our globetrotting adventure. Now, 10 months later I sit down with a heavy heart to pen my last blog entry.

First task is to start integrating myself back into western society. I can't imagine trying to haggle down the price of a Starbuck's Cappuccino is going to make me many friends on a busy Monday morning despite my threats to go and take my custom to Pret if they don't offer me their best price - Good for me, Good for you my friend! It does mean however, I can finally drop the standard backpacker opening lines every time I meet someone new.

1) What's your name? (Almost always instantaneously forgotten)

2) Where you from? (Much excitement prevails if they have even heard of Chester followed a big cringe if they sudden blurt out "Ohh...Hollyoaks")

3) How long have you been away? (A feeble attempt to see who's more hardcore)

4) Where have you been? (Purely to tell them they must go to The Cook Islands)

Travelling does make you realise that the world is absolutely huge (as if it wasn't already obvious) and that although you can spend 10 months making your best attempt to see as much as possible its unlikely that you will ever see everything. Every time I get on a plane I check out the world map in the in-flight magazine and change my mind on where I want to see next. Currently Nepal, India, China & Japan are riding pretty high on my hit list.

Travelling allows you to do loads of things you never normally get to do cos you've got one of those job things which can be so demanding on your precious time. Now I can say I have swung over a 200m Canyon whilst being too shit scared to react, jumped out of a plane at 12,000 ft, rolled down hills inside big inflatable balls and bungy'd over lakes in New Zealand. I've dived the Great Barrier Reef, driven a 4WD & camped on a massive sand island, drank my own body weight in Goon and seen such spectacular sights as The 12 Apostles and Ramsey St in Australia. In Asia I zip lined through the clouds in northern Laos, climbed mountains before dawn in Borneo and partied under a Full Moon in Thailand.

Travelling makes you appreciate what you've got like a set of great mates, an awesome family and that you live in one of the best cities in the world (even if you don't always get a seat on the tube). It makes you realise that you always want more than what you've already got regardless of whether you need it or not when really you should just really be happy & appreciative of what you've already got.

You meets loads of people from all different walks of life when your travelling around. Some of them are well funny, some of them a well strange but they are all well interesting. It made me realise that you should never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes - by which time, he's a mile away and you've got his shoes! But seriously, it's good to chat to the different people you meet along the way because whether you realise it straight away or weeks later you can learn something from each of them.

You start to see things from other peoples perspective too. I used to get really annoyed with people always hassling you for taxi's, massages, tailored suits, jet-ski's, jewelery or fruit. But then I thought that if I had a family to provide for then I would ask everyone who walked past because someone, somewhere really needs that taxi, massage, tailored suit or pineapple and then everyone is happy.

Whilst travelling I've had loads of idea's for business ventures like Reflexology, Juice Bars & Taxi Boats. But my best one was inspired by an encounter I had last night. I was ambling down the road looking for somewhere to score some cheap eats when a guy appeared from nowhere and placed an Iguana on my shoulder and then took a photo of me looking...well a cross between petrified & confused, then he demanded 100 BHT.....Well I though what a wicked idea. I'm sure I can pick up an Iguana in London for next to nothing. I could position myself outside a major tube station and then place it on a flustered looking commuters shoulder, take a quick Polaroid, then demand a tenner for my troubles. Do that 100,000 times and I'm a millionaire before I'm 30 - too easy!

And so the end has come. Thanks to everyone who has taken the effort to read the entries, I set up the blog originally as a way for the folks to keep tabs on me whilst I was away so I was abit shocked to learn that I have been getting some 2,500 views per entry. Apologies in that case for my appalling spelling but rest assured my Mum would have made a note of all my howlers and will have me doing my spelling corrections in the car driving home from Heathrow.

This is greggers signing off

Next stop - Almighty Blighty.